National City hosts mariachi competition

Music teacher Mark Fogelquist (center) rehearses with Mariachi Chula Vista in the rehearsal hall at Chula Vista High School for the upcoming mariachi competition. The free event will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in Pepper Park.
— Earnie Grafton

Music teacher Mark Fogelquist (center) rehearses with Mariachi Chula Vista in the rehearsal hall at Chula Vista High School for the upcoming mariachi competition. The free event will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in Pepper Park.
— Earnie Grafton

NATIONAL CITY  National City is hosting its 11th annual Cinco de Mayo festival this year with a twist.

The National City Chamber of Commerce is helping to organize a free mariachi competition and festival on Saturday ﻿to kick off Cinco de Mayo at Pepper Park. Students in 10 mariachi bands and three traditional ballet folklorico groups from throughout the U.S. and Mexico will perform.

“The purpose of the event is to create a rich, cultural experience for the community by presenting quality entertainment featured by local and national mariachi students,” said National City Chamber of Commerce CEO Jacqueline Reynoso.

She said the plan is to create a signature event for National City.

“The significance of the event is to draw people to understand the beauty and splendor of our rich history, our culture and art in National City,” Reynoso said. “It’s really to place us on the map as a positive destination where families and children can come and enjoy this event and also enjoy National City.”

Last year the Cinco de Mayo event began falling through the cracks, and she and City Council members Alejandra Sotelo-Solis and Luis Natividad helped keep it going.

“We felt strongly as a city that it should continue with the majority of our demographic being Latino with strong ties to Mexico,” Reynoso said.

The event was held at Kimball Park last year.

Reynoso said to ensure the event is aligned with the city’s vision, she worked with marketing experts, event planners and small businesses.

She said the event must also line up with the city’s Tourism and Marketing District goals, which support branding and marketing opportunities for the city from people throughout the region and Baja California.

The Port of San Diego provided $10,000 for the event through its community sponsorship program, and it also contributed between $5,000 and $10,000 in services.

Tanya Castaneda, a port spokeswoman, said the program is intended to promote community involvement in the San Diego Bay.

“We are excited about this,” Castaneda said. “The event is good for the port because it brings people to one of our 18 public parks and with the addition of mariachis this year it’s going to help position National City as a center for art, culture and family entertainment.”

The event will feature a variety of merchants and food vendors. In addition, free health and dental screenings will be performed throughout the day and American Medical Response will provide CPR training.

Any proceeds from the event go to the chamber to support small businesses and development, according to Reynoso.

Several sponsors have donated a total of $4,000 that will be awarded to mariachi winners in two age categories. Students are ages 7 to 23.

Pepper Park, where the free event will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., is at 3299 Tidelands Ave. in National City. Parking is free and a shuttle service will be provided at the 24th Street trolley station from 10:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Mark Fogelquist, a mariachi teacher at the School of Creative and Performing Arts at Chula Vista Middle and High Schools, said the competition gives students motivation. Fogelquist also directs Chula Vista Mariachi, which will compete in the event. The group is comprised of 16 students ages 14 to 18, who rehearse after school every day.

“We have a class for an hour then practice from an hour to an hour and a half — that goes all year,” said Fogelquist, who has directed the group since 2001 and recently announced his retirement. “We put in a lot of time learning the music.”

The competition is a way to push students to practice harder, Fogelquist said.

“It’s an opportunity for them to see other good groups and get a little bit of humility,” he said.

Traditional mariachi, Fogelquist explained, is the form that existed before the 1930s and 1940s, before trumpets were implemented.

Fogelquist’s group uses the “mariachi Vargas” model, which adds a trumpet to the traditional mariachi style that included violins, guitars and harps.

He said it’s important for performers to reach their audience.

“I don’t think people realize how much depth there is to this music,” Fogelquist said. “I don’t think they realize how complex and varied it is and how deeply it reaches people.”

Bill Virchis, CEO and president of Virco Enterprises, is one of the judges for the competition. He was also the founding director of the Sweetwater Union High School District’s Visual and Performing Arts Department.

He will judge groups on criteria including showmanship, musical capability, overall presentation, costumes and music.

Virchis said learning mariachi music is difficult, especially the singing.

“The vocal instrument is probably the most difficult,” he said. “The melody and harmony are very important because there’s two different voices merging as one. They assemble and work as a team. Each instrument depends on the other. The most difficult thing they have to learn is the journey of tempo and rhythm.”